> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
69 Adele
70 Adem
75 Alkaline Trio
76 Alphabeat
78 Animal Collective
54 Ashanti
68 Atmosphere
76 Beck
67 The Black Angels
83 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
71 Booka Shade
75 Boris
71 Billy Bragg
74 The Breeders
47 The Brian Jonestown Massacre
83 Bun B
64 T Bone Burnett
65 Mariah Carey
87 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
68 The Charlatans
68 Clinic
72 Coldplay
78 The Constantines
79 The Cool Kids
78 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
60 The Courteeners
79 Cut Copy
53 Craig David
73 Death Cab For Cutie
47 Def Leppard
61 Gavin DeGraw
64 Delays
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
57 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
69 The Duke Spirit
81 Jakob Dylan
76 Earlimart
70 Ecstatic Sunshine
65 El Perro del Mar
82 Elbow
85 Alejandro Escovedo
73 Estelle
72 The Explorers Club
79 The Fall
54 Feeder
72 Firewater
77 Tim Fite
88 Fleet Foxes
79 Flight Of The Conchords
74 Foals
79 Robert Forster
75 Four Tet
47 Foxy Brown
64 The Fratellis
59 Free Kitten
71 French Kicks
79 Frightened Rabbit
73 The Futureheads
68 The Gossip
81 Al Green
46 G-Unit
65 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Ed Harcourt
78 Emmylou Harris
82 HEALTH
57 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
85 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
64 Vanessa Hudgens
77 James Hunter
70 Islands
69 Jewel
79 Joan As Police Woman
71 Joan Of Arc
58 Scarlett Johansson
69 John & Jehn
59 Judas Priest
75 Kidz In The Hall
71 Fern Knight
65 The Kooks
69 Lady Antebellum
73 Ladytron
65 Langhorne Slim
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
67 Cyndi Lauper
66 Les Savy Fav
64 Leona Lewis
72 Jamie Lidell
71 Lil Mama
83 Lil Wayne
72 Local H
73 The Long Blondes
45 Los Lonely Boys
66 Lyrics Born
69 M83
65 Madonna
74 Man Man
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
67 Mates Of State
79 Matmos
80 James McMurtry
70 Colin Meloy
71 Midnight Juggernauts
63 Alanis Morissette
57 Motley Crue
65 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
51 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
64 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
83 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
76 The Night Marchers
66 Nine Inch Nails
77 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
80 Jim Noir
76 The Notwist
54 The Offspring
72 Old 97's
87 Opeth
59 The Orb
62 James Pants
43 Katy Perry
71 Phantom Planet
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
67 Plantlife
72 Plies
69 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
71 Pyramids
48 The Rascals
73 Ratatat
86 Robyn
79 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
72 Russian Circles
66 RZA
76 Santogold
78 Ron Sexsmith
86 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
76 Sloan
73 Sam Sparro
76 Spiritualized
89 Steinski
76 Subtle
66 Donna Summer
66 Supergrass
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
63 Three 6 Mafia
76 Thrice
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
51 Tokio Hotel
67 Tokyo Police Club
65 Usher
76 Vetiver
69 The Virgins
76 Martha Wainwright
75 Was (Not Was)
68 The Watson Twins
64 We Are Scientists
65 The Wedding Present
64 Weezer
76 White Denim
81 Cassandra Wilson
88 Dennis Wilson
61 Steve Winwood
79 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Awfully Deep
by Roots Manuva


8.9

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

This is the third album for London-based rapper Rodney Smith.

LABEL:	Big Dada
RELEASE DATE:	19 April 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rap

NOTES: Original UK release 31 Jan 2005.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Guardian

Smith has crafted an album that is deft, addictive and profoundly musical, and it feels like a fresh-minted classic.

Stylus Magazine

His best [album] yet, his most fully-formed, emotionally engaging and sonically rewarding.

New Musical Express

A set of immense maturity that never rubs your nose in its thematic complexity, compositional innovation and thunderous thump-beats. [29 Jan 2005, p.58]

Entertainment Weekly

A thrilling mix of moody ambivalence and soulful reggae-tinged hip-hop. [27 May 2005, p.1341]

ShakingThrough.net

Awfully Deep is another strong release for Smith, and while it doesn’t sport the effortless flow of his debut or the rich variety of Run Come Save Me, its considered assessment of where he’s been and where he might be heading helps the album more than live up to its title.

Dusted Magazine

Smith’s tracks are both banging and self-effacing, yet the two opposite impulses never seem fully at odds with each other.

Dot Music

It’s Manuva’s startling honesty which first impresses.

Q Magazine

Smith's greatest talent lies in his surreal, witty wordplay and avuncular tone, and the way they combine to make what could be the usual rap anger sound both intimate and strangely uplifting. [Feb 2005, p.95]

Tiny Mix Tapes

The music is often awesomely original.

Playlouder

A stealthy, smoking beast of a thing: hip hop with a British passport and dubplate roots, embroidered with wiggly, scratching sound effects and made-to-measure production.

Uncut

THe good stuff is terrific. [Mar 2005, p.104]

Mojo

Smith's best, most satisfying album to date. [Mar 2005, p.106]

PopMatters

Not a brilliant album, not his best (that remains Run Come Save Me), just a damn fine selection of mood-groove-dub-flavours by one of music's true inimicables.

Junkmedia

Awfully Deep, on the whole, is a bold, ambitious swing for the fences. But, like it or not, the game's done changed, and Manuva '05 sounds way too much like Manuva '01.

Blender

It's protest music gone gleefully psycho. [Jul 2005, p.122]

Pitchfork

Awfully Deep makes for churning, menacing background music.

All Music Guide

Overall, Roots Manuva may have a lot to say during the verses, but when his choruses consist of little more than a repeated line shouted over and over ("Awfully Deep," "Too Cold"), listeners won't be hanging around long enough to decipher his rhymes.

Spin

His third album mostly shelves the wit and sui generis style-clash. [Jun 2005, p.108]

cokemachineglow

It’s a lot of slickness that adds up to little, though, as a culturally myopic Roots Manuva audibly struggles to feel out the changed face of hip-hop; he sounds unsure of what tone to take and what words to say.

The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jimmy gave it a10:
Pure Goodness

Chicken Supreme gave it a9:
One of the albums of the year for sure as Mr Smith once again matches dub up with electro squelches to create a very personal and touching album.

Andrew O gave it a10:
At times....dark, bright, sad, happy, serious, playfull...but entirely honest. Almost a "Brand New Second Hand."

Vladislaw W gave it a9:
Another awesome album by Rodney, this mate's like Fugazi - he doesn't record sub-par albums

Cornald M gave it a9:
This is the most inventive artist I've heard in years. Great wicked beats and vague lyrics whith an incredible flow.

Derek L gave it a9:
Awfully Deep, is an awfully good third album. Witness the Fitness.

Radek L gave it a9:
Awfully deep & awfully great!!!

Awfully Deep by Roots Manuva

Awfully Deep
by Roots Manuva